Ikolo Griffith was born and raised in San Francisco. Ballet found him at the age of eight through San Francisco Ballet’s Dance in Schools outreach program, and he trained for ten years as a scholarship student in the San Francisco Ballet School.
Taught in the Vaganova syllabus by renowned master teachers from around the world, this intensive training provided a strong classical basis for Ikolo’s performing career and continues to inform his unique teaching methods. At the age of seventeen, Ikolo became the first outreach student to join the professional company, where he danced for seven years in a corps de ballet and demi soloist roles. In 2001 he joined Dance Theatre of Harlem as a soloist and was quickly promoted to principal dancer, a position that allowed him to fully develop and fine-tune strong technical and artistic skills in a wide range of neoclassical roles.
When DTH folded in 2004, Ikolo danced for two seasons as a leading artist with Joffrey Ballet before returning home to join Smuin Ballet. In recent years, Ikolo has transitioned into freelance work, dancing as a member of the San Francisco Opera’s resident dance corps and developing his Just Turns curriculum.